The following was written on a Chinese language blog, describing the kidnap ordeal of a man in Sihanoukville.
Phnom Penh: Hua (a pseudonym) is 25 years old and has been in Cambodia for 3 years working in visa processing and other businesses in Phnom Penh. He has a girlfriend in Cambodia who for many years. She lives a stable, happy and contented life.
Through his work, Hua has met with many people in Cambodia, however on November 25th, a friend named Zhou Ge, whom he had previously had business dealings with, said that there are some contacts that would like to meet him.
Hua was happy to return to business after the borders had reopened, so arranged to talk in detail at night. But he did know that this was the beginning of his nightmare. That night, Hua’s girlfriend returned to her hometown and only Hua and one of his friends were at home. Four people walked in, sat down and, after 10 minutes of small talk confirmed that there was only Hua and a friend at home, one of them made an excuse to leave and talk on the phone outside. When the person who went outside came back again, he brought in five or six heavily-built men. A Hua and his friend were surprised, and were punched by the group of men and overpowered.
Hua knew that he met a kidnapping gang, and although he had heard many media reports on kidnapping cases, he never expected that he would encounter such a problem. Then, a gun was pointed at him. Seeing the black hole staring at him, Hua and his friend could only obey the kidnapper’s request and obediently followed them into the car. The car went straight on Road 4, in the direction of Sihanoukville. Hua begged the kidnappers not to beat them anymore, and offered to pay them.
The kidnapper said that for two people, they needed $40,000. If the money was paid they would release them. “If they don’t have money, don’t even think about the consequences!”
Hua contacted friends and family members, and exhausted all their efforts. Finally, when the car arrived in Sihanoukville, the two had made up enough to pay US$40,000. Then, Hua transferred the money to the kidnappers.
But, as soon as they arrived the kidnappers went back and said “You have to take another 20,000 yuan and we’ll let you go!”
At that time, Ah Hua had a desire to die! Such a backlash, when is the end? What if you need another 20,000 after you give it another 20,000? The previous 40,000 had exhausted all the connections and family relationships of the two!
Hua and his friends did not raise any more money. The kidnappers took them into a business park and locked them in a room. Fortunately, Wah usually treats people well. “When I asked a Chinese friend for help, a friend knew Mr. Kun (pseudonym) of Sihanoukville.”That friend told Mr. Kun about his experience of being trapped in the park.
Kun is usually low-key, and he doesn’t like to hang out in nightclubs, casinos and other places, but he is loyal. In fact, Hua’s friend first asked Kun to borrow some money to help, but after listening to Hua’s experience, Kun said: “When everyone has trouble going overseas, money is it! Seriously, I haven’t, but I’ve been here for quite some time. It’s a brother. If you can trust me, let me find a way to see if I can rescue him, but the cost is 10,000 US dollars per person.”
My friend passed the words of Brother Kun to Hua, and Hua thought to himself, that rather give more money to the kidnappers, it was better to believe in Brother Kun and come out!
In this way, Hua and his friends contacted family members in China again, asked them to raise money, and then sent the money to Brother Kun. That night, Ah Hua stayed up all night.
The next day, at about 10 o’clock, Hua and his friends heard a noise outside slowly approaching. At that time, Hua and the others thought he might be moved to another park. Would he be violently beaten on the road?
Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door, and the people outside asked “Is Hua inside?”
Hua immediately replied “ Yes, it is me, it is Hua!”
Hearing Hua’s answer, the door was opened. In an instant, more than 10 Cambodian military police rushed into the room, and a leader of the team stepped forward to confirm: Is it Hua? Hua said “Yes, I am Ah Hua, this is my friend, with me.”
The leader of the team told Hua that the operation was thanks to Brother Kun and their leader, and asked him to follow.
At that time, Hua had mixed feelings. After experiencing such a dark experience, the Cambodian military police could rescue him and leave the Nettou Park. Brother Kun helped a lot!
Yet, there were several other people who were locked up with Hua and seeing him and his friend rescued by the military police, they cast “doubtful and envious eyes, as if to say “Who is this person? If so many Cambodian military police can come to rescue him, there must be someone behind them!” (*Yes, the author claims they were left behind). Hua and his friend got out of the park and got into the car. A compatriot in the car greeted Hua and said: After the gendarmerie personnel have received the team, we will go to the gendarmerie office together.
Ah Hua asked, are you Kun?
The man explained that he was not Brother Kun, but Brother Kun arranged to deal with him. He said that when he arrived at the military police office, he could leave after making a simple statement.
After experiencing a night of panic in Sihanoukville , and after spending a total of 60,000 US dollars, Hua and his friends were free. Later, after Hua returned to Phnom Penh, he chatted with Brother Kun for a while and learned that he was also a person who had gone through the wind and frost and had seen too many things here. Brother Kun said that no country in this world is 100% good, and no country is bad. There is darkness in all corners of the world, but there will certainly be good people like him.
Hua is very grateful to Brother Kun. If there was no Brother Kun, he and his friend would still be in the park.
